White rhinoceros

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt thanks British Governor General of the Sudan Wingate for providing a boat in Gondokoro and offering assistance with guides and camp set up. He details his feelings regarding hunting in the reserves, and inquires about finding elephant, white rhinoceros, and giant eland. Roosevelt knows General George Wood Wingate and respects him as a soldier, and he is grateful that Lady Catherine Leslie Rundle Wingate will host Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and Ethel Roosevelt. S. J. Leigh Hunt has said that Reginald has accomplished a great deal in Sudan, which Roosevelt knows is a difficult feat.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-14

Letter from Charles D. Walcott to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles D. Walcott acknowledges a letter from Theodore Roosevelt from earlier in the month regarding collections from Roosevelt’s African safari and the American Museum of Natural History, addressing some of his questions and concerns specifically about white rhinoceros specimens and a research paper on giant elands. Walcott agrees with Roosevelt that the collections should be used by the museum and may send Waldron DeWitt Miller to discuss things with Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-13

Letter from Herbert W. Ladd to Theodore Roosevelt

Herbert W. Ladd informs Theodore Roosevelt about his daughter Elizabeth B. Ladd’s upcoming trip to Entebbe, Uganda, where she will marry Dr. Robert E. McConnell. Ladd requests Roosevelt’s advice, aid, or introductions to assist her during her journey and after her arrival in Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-11

Letter from Edmund Heller to Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Heller spoke with Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian, and decided at the last minute to join Paul James Rainey’s expedition to Africa on behalf of the National Museum. He did not realize that Theodore Roosevelt had intended to write to Walcott requesting that Heller not go so that he could focus on writing reports on the specimens collected from his own African expedition. Heller explains that no other qualified man is available to go, and lists the ways that this expedition will assist him in finishing his work with Roosevelt’s collection. The paper on the white rhinoceros will be published before Heller goes, and he assures Roosevelt of his dedication to the work.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to J. B. Hamilton

Theodore Roosevelt is pleased that J. B. Hamilton’s book is coming out soon and would happily receive a copy from him. The success of his book in South Africa excites him, and he hopes it will be helpful to Hamilton. Roosevelt is sorry to hear of the difficulties in restoring rhinoceros and elephants, especially with the concerns about game exterminators. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles D. Walcott

Theodore Roosevelt asks Charles D. Walcott if he knows when Edmund Heller is set to publish a certain study based on what the group discovered on a recent trip, as Roosevelt is anxious to make a permanent record of their travels. Roosevelt also asks when Walcott will send a pair of rhinoceros to the American Museum of Natural History where they will be displayed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-05

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edmund Heller

Theodore Roosevelt is obliged to Edmund Heller for the interesting letter. Roosevelt discusses the hunting abilities and experience of Charles Jesse Jones, Paul James Rainey, and R. J. Cunninghame. Roosevelt also discusses his article Concealing and Revealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edgar Alexander Mearns

Theodore Roosevelt will send the letter and enclosure to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. Roosevelt does not understand why Edmund Heller has not published pamphlets on the white rhino or eland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles D. Walcott

Theodore Roosevelt writes Charles D. Walcott that Andrew Carnegie does not want any further information from Roosevelt on the subject of art. Roosevelt is excited that Walcott will mount the giant eland and white rhino at the Smithsonian. Roosevelt would like to lunch with Walcott before his trip to the Rockies.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edmund Heller

Theodore Roosevelt was very interested in Edmund Heller’s letter, as was Kermit Roosevelt who happened to be visiting when Heller’s letter arrived. Roosevelt wishes that the three of them could take another trip together, but he cannot foresee any such opportunity. The information Heller relayed about the eland and its similarity to the bongo was particularly interesting to Roosevelt, and he is happy that Heller’s pamphlet on the species will soon be published.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-21

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt sympathizes with the concerns that F. R. Wingate, Governor General of the Sudan, has about not getting the necessary money for developments. He is grateful for the work that Wingate and other Englishmen are doing to help him organize his safari. Roosevelt is desperate for a chance to shoot a white rhinoceros, and wants the same permissions that Winston Churchill did on his hunt. Although the first pair of white rhinoceros he shoots are promised to the Smithsonian Institution, Roosevelt wants Ambassador Whitelaw Reid to ask if the British Museum wants a second pair, should he be lucky enough to shoot one.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt is determined to shoot a white rhinoceros on his African safari, and would like Ambassador Reid to speak with Lord Crewe about his obtaining permission to hunt in the same places in Uganda as Winston Churchill did. He would like Reid to inquire if the British Museum would like a white rhinoceros specimen if he is lucky enough to shoot three; the first two are promised to the Smithsonian Institution. He discusses a number of international events including the situation in India, and the ongoing controversy between the United States and England that arose during the summer Olympics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt will be happy to accept F. R. Wingate’s offer of a boat and guide to take him up the Nile River to Khartoum. He clarifies that he would like permission to shoot in officers’ game reserves only if there are animals there that he cannot get anywhere else. He is particularly interested in shooting elephants and a white rhinoceros, and discusses the timing of trips that may allow him to get them. Roosevelt is also excited to visit the Congo to see Wingate’s administrative accomplishments there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edmund Heller

Theodore Roosevelt discusses Edmund Heller’s various works-in-progress, including one on the white rhino, and offers his own work to support Heller’s. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-18

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Leigh S. J. Hunt

President Roosevelt is “overjoyed” to hear that Leigh S. J. Hunt’s son, Henry L. Hunt, has improved in health and discusses his Nile river travel plans for his upcoming African safari. Based on the advice of the Sirdar and John L. Harrington, Roosevelt plans to travel up the Sobat and Pibor rivers instead of the Bahr-el-Gazal. Roosevelt also reports that the Sirdar claims he can catch a white rhinoceros while in Uganda. In the postscript, Roosevelt wonders if they should bring donkeys on their river journey.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt tells F. R. Wingate, British Governor General of the Sudan, that he is very interested in F. A. Dickinson’s report concerning where to find white rhinoceros. He will try hunting at both locations that Dickinson advises. Roosevelt maintains that he has never been a lucky hunter, but eventually gets game by allowing plenty of time to find it. He does not want to “make a record bag,” but would like to hunt a variety of species to get examples to donate to the National Museum in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-07

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to F. R. Wingate

President Roosevelt attempts to assuage F. R. Wingate’s embarrassment about previously addressing him by the wrong title, saying that “not one in ten” Americans know his proper title. Roosevelt is touched by the effort so many English people have made to help with preparations for his safari, both his friends and also various officials he is not acquainted with. He sympathizes with Wingate’s feeling about the lack of development in the Sudan, comparing it to American improvements in the Philippines, where ambitions were high, but a lack of funds disrupted the projects. Roosevelt will communicate with Wingate from Nairobi, and relates his plans for traveling and hunting. Roosevelt reflects that he “ought to feel melancholy over leaving the Presidency,” but the excitement of his upcoming safari dwarfs any such feelings.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Whitelaw Reid

President Roosevelt asks Ambassador Reid if he would be able to petition Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes to write to officials in Uganda that Roosevelt would appreciate being given a guide and information that would allow him to hunt a white rhinoceros or elephant. The current unrest in India concerns Roosevelt, and asks what the feelings of British officials are towards it. Roosevelt also remarks briefly on his plans to leave immediately after William H. Taft’s inauguration as president, and comments on a controversy that arose at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, which is still fostering some resentment between the two nations. If Roosevelt can secure a third specimen of the white rhinoceros, he would be happy to send it to the British Museum.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to James J. Harrison

President Roosevelt thanks James J. Harrison for writing to Frederick Courtney Selous. He is interested in Harrison’s suggestion that he should not waste time hunting for elephants in British East Africa, and should instead go to Uganda, and then on the Nile.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Alfred E. Pease

President Roosevelt tells Alfred E. Pease that he will go to his ranch first upon arriving in Africa and afterward go to William Northrup McMillan’s. Roosevelt discusses Abel Chapman’s book on hunting and is concerned that he will have trouble getting wildebeest and hartebeest due to his poor skill at long-range shooting. He would also like to discuss with the Belgians the best locations for him to shoot a white rhinoceros.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-06